Doug Moe and Paul Westhead were way ahead of the game, going back as far as 1983 when Moe was head coach for the Denver Nugget's in the NBA. Perhaps one of the greatest games in NBA history was the game on December 13, 1983 in a game between Denver and the Detroit Pistons. The final score had Detroit winning 186-184 in triple overtime.
Here are some thoughts from Alex English and Kiki Vandeweghe about Doug Moe's system. It was written by Eric Neel in an article on ESPN.com, this fits how I and many others feel about "The System" today;
"It was
basketball at its purest," he says. "Free-flowing, with the pressure off
the players." At a time when the iconic face of coaching in America was
Bobby Knight's red-cheeked rant at some poor kid unfortunate enough to
miss a teammate coming off a back-screen, Moe, more like a bandleader,
was letting his guys find a groove. "Everyone knew what their roles
were," English says. "But no one was limited or afraid to try things."
Even now, Vandeweghe chuckles just thinking about how much fun it was:
"Doug never criticized a shot."
This is why I and many love "The System" so much.
Click here and read the entire article about that special night. Oh, by the way there were only four three point attempts in that game.